Synthesia Review: Pros and Cons

Synthesia is an AI video creation platform designed to help individuals and businesses produce professional videos without the need for cameras, microphones, actors, or editing software. Instead of filming, you simply type in your script, choose an AI avatar, select a voice and language, and Synthesia generates a polished video in minutes.

Synthesia is especially popular for training videos, internal communications, product walkthroughs, and marketing content. Its core appeal lies in how fast and cost-effective it makes video production, especially for teams who need frequent updates or multi-language support.

In this review, I’ll walk you through exactly how Synthesia works, what it does well, where it falls short, and whether it’s worth your time and budget for your specific video needs.

Synthesia's Core Features Explained

Video Creation

• AI Screen Recorder
  Lets you record your screen directly within Synthesia, useful for tutorials and walkthroughs.
  
• AI Video Editor
  A built-in editor that allows you to arrange scenes, edit scripts, adjust timing, and fine-tune video elements without needing external software.
  
• Brand Kits
  Store and apply your brand’s logos, fonts, and colors consistently across videos.
  
• Media Library
  Access stock visuals, music, and your own uploaded assets for use in video scenes.

Localization

• 1-Click Translations
  Instantly translate your entire video script into multiple languages with one click.
  
• AI Video Dubbing (New)
  Automatically dub your video into 29+ languages using synthetic voices that match the original tone.
  
• Closed Captions
  Add subtitles in different languages to make your videos more accessible.
  
• Review Workflow
  Structured collaboration tool for managing revisions, approvals, and stakeholder feedback.

Collaboration

• Workspaces
  Organize projects by team or client with shared access and permissions.
  
• Live Collaboration
  Multiple people can edit and comment on videos in real-time, like working in Google Docs.
  
• Commenting
  Leave timestamped feedback directly on scenes to streamline review and revisions.
  
• Version Control
  Track changes across different versions of a video and revert if needed.

AI Avatars & Voices

• 230+ AI Avatars
  Choose from a wide selection of lifelike digital presenters, including diverse ethnicities and styles.
  
• Personal Avatars
  Create a custom avatar of yourself or a team member using Synthesia’s personalized avatar service.
  
• Selfie Avatars (New)
  Record a short selfie video to generate a personalized AI avatar instantly, with minimal setup.
  
• 140+ Languages
  Generate speech in over 140 languages and accents, ideal for global teams and international audiences.
  
• Voice Cloning
  Create a synthetic version of your voice to be used across videos.

User Experience and Interface

Getting started with Synthesia: The onboarding process

You can use Synthesia’s free account to test the platform and see if it works for you. 

The platform is intuitive and easy to use, and you can sign up in minutes.

When you sign up, you can start working on your first video. Write the description, pick an avatar and edit the text.

Creating your own avatar is still in beta mode, but you can experiment.

Best Use Cases for Synthesia

Synthesia is especially well-suited for creating corporate training and onboarding videos, offering companies a reliable way to deliver standardized content across global teams. Its ability to quickly update videos makes it ideal for materials that need to stay aligned with changing regulations or internal policies. 

Multilingual support allows organizations to produce localized versions without filming multiple times, which is particularly valuable for distributed workforces and international operations.

Another standout use case is in multilingual marketing campaigns. Global brands and smaller businesses alike can produce one core video and then generate localized versions in dozens of languages. This not only reduces production time and cost but also ensures brand consistency across regions. 

Synthesia helps businesses connect with wider audiences while maintaining a unified visual identity and improving viewer engagement through native-language messaging.

The platform also excels at product demonstrations and explainer videos. Whether walking users through software interfaces or introducing new features, Synthesia enables companies to produce clear, professional video content that enhances product understanding. 

These videos are easy to update and distribute, making them highly effective for customer education, onboarding, and reducing support queries.

Finally, Synthesia is a powerful tool for scaling internal communications and customer support. Enterprises use it to share executive updates, policy changes, and company news in a more engaging format than traditional emails. 

It’s also practical for creating personalized customer support videos and FAQs, allowing companies to deliver tailored help at scale without the high cost of traditional video production.

Synthesia Pricing Analysis

Synthesia offers four pricing plans tailored to different user needs, ranging from individual creators to large enterprise teams. 

The Basic plan is completely free and requires no credit card. It includes one editor seat, three minutes of video per month, and access to nine AI avatars, making it ideal for users who want to test the platform with minimal commitment.

The Starter plan is priced at $18 per month (billed annually) and builds on the Basic features. It allows users to download videos, access over 104 languages, use an AI video assistant, and remove the Synthesia watermark. 

This plan includes one editor and up to three guest collaborators, 120 video minutes per year, access to over 125 AI avatars, and standard chat/email support.

The Creator plan, which is the most popular option, costs $64 per month when billed annually. 

It includes all features from the Starter plan and adds support for up to five personal avatars, video dubbing, branded video pages, API access, and multiple avatars per scene. Users also get 360 minutes of video per year, an expanded avatar library with over 180 avatars, and priority support. This plan supports one editor and five guest collaborators.

For larger teams and organizations, the Enterprise plan offers custom pricing and includes everything in the Creator plan, with additional advanced features. 

These include unlimited video minutes, one-click translations into over 80 languages, access to 230+ stock AI avatars, unlimited personal avatars, SAML/SSO support, live team collaboration tools, brand kits, and SCORM export capabilities. AI dubbing is available as a paid add-on, and enterprise customers receive access to Synthesia’s dedicated success support team.

Each plan scales in both features and production capacity, allowing users to choose the option that best fits their content goals and team size.

Synthesia Pros & Cons

✅ Positive Feedback

Exceptional time and cost efficiency
Synthesia drastically cuts down video production time and costs. Traditional video creation involves booking talent, filming sessions, and post-production work, which can take days or weeks. 

Multilingual video creation for global reach
The platform’s built-in translation and dubbing tools allow a single script to be transformed into videos in over 140 languages. This eliminates the need to hire native speakers or create separate shoots for each language, making it highly efficient for multinational organizations and teams with global audiences.

Consistent brand messaging and presentation
Synthesia’s AI avatars deliver content with the same tone, cadence, and expression every time, which ensures that messaging remains consistent across videos. Visual branding, such as templates and layouts, can also be standardized, helping companies maintain a cohesive identity across all content.

Enterprise-grade scalability
Large teams with high-volume needs benefit from Synthesia’s ability to mass-produce videos using templates, reusable avatars, and automated scripts. It’s ideal for internal training, customer education, and personalized communications that must be updated frequently or sent at scale.

No technical expertise required
Synthesia removes the technical barrier from video production. Users don’t need filming, editing, or design skills—just the ability to write a script. This empowers HR, marketing, product, and training teams to produce video content directly, streamlining workflows and reducing dependencies.

⚠️ Areas for Improvement

Limited emotional expressiveness
AI avatars still fall short of delivering genuine emotion or nuanced expressions. While they can simulate basic gestures or friendliness, they are not yet ideal for emotionally charged content like heartfelt messages, motivational talks, or persuasive sales pitches.

Voice quality and audio syncing issues
Although improving, Synthesia’s text-to-speech system can sometimes sound robotic or miss the correct pronunciation of technical terms. Users have noted occasional misalignment between speech and lip movement, particularly with lesser-used languages or custom voice settings.

Creative limitations compared to other tools
Synthesia focuses on avatar-led videos and offers less control over advanced animation, transitions, or motion graphics. For users who need rich visual storytelling or elaborate effects, the platform may feel too limiting.

Usage caps on lower-tier plans
The Basic and Starter plans come with tight restrictions, such as limited video minutes and reduced avatar selection. This can be frustrating for smaller businesses or solo creators who produce content regularly but don’t yet have the budget for higher-tier subscriptions.

Occasional script interpretation errors
In some cases, Synthesia alters the phrasing or pronunciation of scripts to better fit its AI model. While these changes are often minor, they can be problematic for content that requires strict accuracy, such as legal, technical, or medical information. Careful proofreading is essential to avoid miscommunication.

Synthesia vs. Competitors

Is Synthesia Worth It in 2025?

In 2025, Synthesia remains one of the most compelling AI video creation platforms on the market, particularly for teams and organizations seeking efficiency, scalability, and multilingual support. 

For businesses that rely heavily on video content—whether for training, marketing, internal communication, or customer education—Synthesia offers a practical solution that dramatically reduces both production time and costs. What once required cameras, crews, and days of editing can now be done in a browser with just a script and a few clicks.

However, Synthesia isn't without its limitations. It may not be the best fit for emotionally-driven content, creative storytelling, or highly customized visuals.

Don’t forget to explore alternatives.